Movement Leaders on Camp: Today, Tomorrow, Forever

We sincerely thank the camp leaders who shared their time, candor, and insights.
 

Use these links to find each conversation in the interview below:

• When you look back over the past 15-20 years, how has camp changed?
• Are there any other trends that you see that your camps need to be thinking about over the next several years? 
• Do you see any long-term implications for COVID, and are there any lessons to be derived from the pandemic? 
• Do you see any long-term implications from October 7?

When you look back over the past 15-20 years, how has camp changed?

Ruben Arquilevich (RA): A hundred years ago, camp was about getting kids into fresh air and about how to Americanize them. Then it evolved into an opportunity for Jewish identity formation and education. More recently we’ve seen the development of specialty camps and the prevailing role of mental health.

During this period, we’ve seen many different educational models of how to inspire a love of Judaism and connection to Jewish life, and Jewish camp continues to be at the top. It is such a fundamentally important and critical experience in our young people’s and communities’ lives. We’re also hearing more often that people just want their Jewish community to be camp. Indeed, more and more camps are providing year-round touchpoints and experiences for the entire family for the entire life cycle. This is a real opportunity.

Another change over the last 15-20 years is that most of the camps now require operational fundraising to make their budgets work.

Helene Drobenare (HD): There are things about camp that you can never change, regardless of what goes on outside the gates. For us, the question is how much can we keep out the outside world — for example, the Israel-Hamas war, COVID, mental health issues — from the purpose of the work we’re doing. Kids will always want fun, those flags will always go up, there will always be laughter and joy. This is what we want to anchor to every time we face a crisis. We always think, “This is it, it won’t get worse than this.” But when we hold on tight, keep in mind why we’re doing what we’re doing, it gives us the strength to move to the next challenge.

Jenny Isaacs (JI): We have seen a decrease in resilience and distress tolerance among campers and parents and an increase in screen addiction. The gap between what we offer in the camp environment and what people experience in their day-to-day lives has grown, which makes it all the more important that we have the camp environment. 

On the positive side, there's also been change in camp culture and what “cool” looks like. Who gets to be leaders 20 years ago versus now has really changed for the better. How we deal with issues around consent and sexuality at camp has also changed for the better. There also have been some great improvements in gender inclusion and neuro inclusion. And we’ve seen the growth of systems of support, such as JCamp 180 and the Foundation for Jewish Camp and feel like there’s much more of a community of camps to be part of.

Jennifer Mamlet (JM): There is much more strain and stress on camp directors today, which is leading to shortened tenures; the days of the 10-, 20-, or 30-year director are disappearing, with major implications for the whole camp and the need to expand the talent pipeline. 

Alan Silverman (AS): Over the 38 years I’ve been doing this, the camp director role has expanded exponentially to include so many areas: legal, safety, insurance, security, education, supervision, maintenance, building, and fundraising. It’s exciting, and you’re always growing and learning, and that is the wonderful part. But the expanded responsibilities and the hours that it requires to get on top of these things make the job very difficult. And that could be contributing to burnout.

Harrell Wittenstein (HW): Since I was a camp director in the ’90s, the role also has changed in response to changes in standards and parent expectations. For example, there’s been the professionalization of the role, the added requirement to fundraise, and the growing need to address mental health issues. One thing I’ll add is the evolving focus on the staff experience. Obviously, it’s a job, but it’s also a unique opportunity to take in these 18- to 20-year-olds, to make sure that they’re connected to Judaism, and to develop their skills. 

Sharon Waimberg (SW): In 2000, when I began my tenure as executive director at Galil, having an adult in a Habonim Dror camp was revolutionary. Since then, there’s just so much more professionalization, so many more rules and regulations. It’s just a much more structured field. At the same time, we’ve strived to continue providing a summer experience with all the excitement, creativity, fun, and boundary-pushing. 

David Phillips (DP): The notion of finding, retaining, and appropriately rewarding professionals, I think, is a huge shift. The days of the 20- or 30-year camp directors are largely gone. In a relationship-based industry, that is not good, because we work on the theory that you get to say to people, “Oh, look! I remember when you were a kid at camp.” The complexity of the sector and the fact that more than ever it’s a lifestyle job makes it really challenging going forward. In addition, more than ever before, organizations need a capable, competent, and growing fundraising component to survive.

Dr. Daniel Olson (DO): It’s really extraordinary to see the culture of philanthropy grow so much in the camping sector. And how much money the field is able to raise, how ambitious we can all be because there’s so much support from alumni donors and from major foundations. Recognizing the increased need, we also have seen a greatly expanded role for mental health professionals in camp. Now all the Ramah overnight camps have year-round, full-time positions directing camper care or community wellness, and that didn’t exist even 10 years ago.

Are there any other trends that you see that your camps need to be thinking about over the next several years? 

DP: The rising costs over the last 20 or 30 years are going to be painful to absorb. We’ve been underpaying seasonal staff chronically for generations, and that’s coming home to roost. So we have to deal with it. We’ve got a freight train of insurance challenges coming our way. They’re already on the West Coast and clearly spreading east. Climate change is going to be one of the more significant factors impacting insurance costs. This has the likelihood of putting some of our camps in real jeopardy. 

JI: The discourse around staff expectations for compensation has evolved over the years. Staff compensation has become a major issue. People want to be at camp but can’t afford to work there. And some can feel taken advantage of.

AS: Along those lines, I would call attention to the rising costs of Jewish education. Most of our population certainly goes to day school as well as to summer camp. The costs are going through the roof and making it extremely difficult for our families. Years ago, we didn’t have to think so much about fundraising, but for operational purposes, we certainly have to now.

HD: The rise in costs and the need for scholarship assistance is real. There’s a handful of great camps that run year-round businesses. On the other hand, you have camps that are raising money and building buildings with price tags in the millions of dollars. They are spending 5 million dollars for rec halls that get used for 10 weeks, but there’s not enough money to bring all the kids that need to be in that camp there. There’s something wrong with this paradigm: a building that sits empty for 10 months, but Jewish children that can’t use it.
  AS: We’re seeing our older staff — first- and second-year college students — go to Israel for a year to learn. And it’s getting harder to get them to come back. There’s also a tremendous pressure for internships. We’ve had to take younger and younger staff. It’s a challenge training them and having them deal with things when they’re not as ready as we would like. 

HD: With our day and overnight camps we’re seeing a lack of staff. We hear, “We can’t find kids to go on Birthright.” “Where are the teenagers?” When you invest in younger kids and their families, you stay in the long game. People who stay in the long game, which could be 15 years long, will find the answers. When you invest in the younger kids and families, and you stay in the long game, then you will have the answers to staff. If you only invest in the short game, you’re not going to find the answers. 

DO: A trend I see is the increasing recognition by the camping field of the importance of day camps. There’s been tremendous expansion of Ramah’s day camp network, for which we are very pleased, as they are doing great educational work with kids and families. Day camps can be an important pipeline into the overnight camps, but they also play other roles For kids who aren’t overnight campers, day camps are their summer homes. 

DP: We are beginning to understand that day camp is its own product and distinct from overnight camp; the two are wonderful siblings. But until recently we only spoke about day camp as a feeder for overnight camp. It’s just not the case. Day camp is its own separate and distinct product. As Daniel said, day camp’s importance and relevance is growing in importance with every year especially for some families who will start to be priced out of the overnight camp experience.

DO: We also are seeing a tectonic shift in the way our young camp professionals understand climate issues. The challenges are not only about rising insurance costs. They’re also about the comfort of being in an outdoor space like camp in the summertime. Being at camp is uncomfortable with wildfire smoke, high humidity, and record-breaking rainfall, which many of our camps experienced last summer.

Do you see any long-term implications for COVID, and are there any lessons to be derived from the pandemic? 

DP: COVID was a catalytic moment that fast-tracked things that were already coming. In a strange twist of irony, a lot of camps came out cash-flush. And it’s had the effect of having camps say that their facilities need real work. I’ve never seen a time with more capital projects being undertaken than now.

HW: COVID was a real stress test for all the camps. As David said, some emerged financially better or stronger as organizations because they had to exercise some muscles that had not been used much, maybe ever. Camps learned how to prepare our boards and budget for a catastrophic situation. A lot of our camps are starting to get serious about fundraising and hiring a development person, because they recognized that was a big part of getting out of COVID.

JM: Camps’ financial realities look different post-COVID. Many of our camps, even if they felt cash-flush, thanks to government support, loans, or other emergency funding sources provided early in the pandemic, have since exhausted those resources and are increasingly looking to fundraising to meet ongoing and expanded needs.

HD: During COVID, we watched a whole generation of camp directors leave the field, and with them left the institutional memory of how camps are run. Among the effects we’re seeing are inexperience in the field and a lot of mistakes. And then two-three years later, these younger directors are leaving the field, and somebody new is coming. 

A lot of us found ourselves also acting as communal leaders. During COVID, we were sitting and holding people’s hands at funerals and doing pastoral work that a camp director never previously did. We also see it now; because of the war in Gaza, the role has just continued. You’re a communal leader not just representing 150 little kids playing baseball. You have families calling you saying, “What do I do?” “You’re leading my kid.” “You’re leading my family.” “My investment in Jewish life is through you.” 

AS: There were some positive aspects, which we call the “COVID keepers.” COVID caused us to implement educational and other changes that have turned out to make sense after as well. For example, we used to crowd everyone into the one main dining hall; now we’re eating in multiple dining halls. Our staff couldn’t leave the camp during COVID, and so we developed various in-camp activities that we’ve continued to incorporate.

In my camp, we went from five to eight or nine nurses, and we have two physicians and two or three EMTs, far more medical personnel than we ever had. We are keeping it at that level, and it’s making a huge difference in a lasting way.

JM: I’ll pick up where Alan left off, which is the physical infrastructure around medical care. A lot of camps, I know, are looking at their infirmaries and going, “Hmm, that model doesn’t work, we need a medical center with the ability to quarantine and do more” — and that’s a major investment. 

HD: The increase in medical staff and social workers comes with the need for more housing, and that means more fundraising. 

RA: Many years ago, a number of our camps had to deal with norovirus. Suddenly all of our housekeeping budget lines doubled and tripled. Once it went away, it’s not like we said, “Oh, we’re not going to clean as much.” So that’s another theme. More and more resources are needed to sustain excellence and do what we want to do in all facets of camping.

COVID also disrupted certain camper and social bubbles three or four years ago, and that disruption still has a tail. I would say the effect will last for another two to three years.

JM: To add a fine point to something Ruben touched on, the tail, indeed, might be long; we just don’t know. COVID stunted socialization opportunities and as these young people rise to leadership age, we can see that they missed some critical skill-building. We might see a different kind of staff training or support required because today’s rising leaders missed important skill-building they would have gotten during those earlier, missed summers when they would have seen their counselors model a certain way of behaving. 

As Helene touched on, many directors are opting to not stay in their roles very long. I’m concerned about a dried-up pipeline of people who even will aspire to a leadership role, whether it’s that of a director, assistant director, or associate director, because they have seen the strain and stress on people in those positions.

SW: What came out of COVID was an acceleration of things that already existed. But there are lingering effects. I fear the anti-COVID vax view may shift to other vaccinations and that would be a challenge. For Habonim Dror lay leaders, COVID created a three-year period when there weren’t face-to-face interactions; there weren’t people getting together from among our different communities across North America. The individual communities siloed and were fine, eventually. But when we’re looking for future leadership for the movement, those necessary personal interactions didn’t happen. And we’re finding it hard to get people even willing to travel to meet each other again.

HW: I agree with David and Sharon that these weren’t necessarily new issues. But three years of no social interaction or even masked social interaction is going to have an effect. We’re seeing it work its way through the life cycle of camp. We’re still going to have to deal with this as we go.

DO: A lot of our camp directors see COVID in the rear-view mirror. COVID did spark an increasing recognition of mental health challenges in camp — which already were present — and that led to increased investment, which we’ll have to figure out how to sustain moving forward.

I am concerned about future pandemics. Infectious diseases are really bad for a communal living environment like a summer camp. And is the twenty-first century going to be a century of pandemics? Or is COVID going to be something that happened at the beginning of the 2020s, and that’s it? It connects to some of the concerns over climate change, which can increase the risk of infectious disease. 

JI: COVID made us into pandemic managers and added to the pile-on to the camp director role. I do think there’s a long-term implication of burnout.

We’ve also noticed people wanting shorter sessions. We find that young kids are less resilient to being away for so long. Also, families had a couple of years of needing to figure out how to do summer without camp. They discovered they like other things as well and want to keep those as priorities, while doing everything with fewer economic resources. We also don’t know the long-term health impacts of a generation having had COVID, often multiple times, and what that’s going to mean for our health services.

AS: In our B’nei Akiva camps, the emergency created a much more intimate connection between all the camps. Everyone really started talking more, were more willing to cooperate and work together. I saw the same thing among non-Jewish camps as well. The recent emergencies have forced us to be more in the present. But we need to develop our strategic planning to force ourselves to think in the long term as well. 

Do you see any long-term implications from October 7?*

* Note: Interviews were conducted in February and reflect the perspectives of the participants and circumstances at that time recognizing that events are still unfolding.

RA: I feel that over the next number of years we’re going to have to ask questions we really haven’t been asking ourselves for a while. We’ve just taken Israel for granted, at least in the Reform Movement camps. We’re going to have to take a hard look at what Israel education means, at least relative to many young people who disagree with URJ’s approach to supporting Israel. It’s going to force us to really look at our Jewish programming, at our core purpose, and how to ensure that Israel continues to be a big mission-driving element. Short term, we will be working on how to build resiliency in our leadership and others so that they can support stakeholders, and on how we can 100-percent fully embrace Israel and come up with the right statements to express that and our boundaries. One of the things we are looking at is how to create a civil dialogue and safe space for these conversations. 

HD: Every movement is in a different place. Young Judaea is in a very comfortable place with being just who we are: a Zionist youth movement. Israel is a part of us unconditionally, the good, the bad, and the ugly. We’re not a political organization. Our educational program isn’t changing because we’ve never done politics, we won’t do politics. We’ve already been teaching radical empathy. We needed to learn how to talk to each other, so that’s not going to change. In fact, we’re going to engage even harder.

DO: Our response to October 7 was a validation of years of good work by camps to bridge gaps between North American Jews and Israelis. The response that we saw from the Ramah community post–October 7 was one of support, care, and love for Israelis who are Shlichim; for Ramah alumni who made Aliyah; sadly, for Ramah-connected people who are still being held hostage in Gaza; and for soldiers who are alumni of the Ramah camps. Basically every week, there’s been a Ramah-led solidarity mission to Israel for people of all ages. We are actively working on our educational approach with campers and with American staff who have been on campus all year.

DP: I think it’s the long-term impact on young adults feeling antisemitism in a raw, painful way that this generation has likely never experienced before now. I don’t know when there’s been a period of more safety and security for the Jewish people than the last 30 or so years. That’s gone, and it will almost certainly have long-term impact on mental health needs and registration and security issues.

HW: We’re going to have a series of discussions without pushing camps in one direction or the other, but to say, “These are the issues you’re going to be dealing with this summer. What are the things you want staff to say? What don’t you want them to say? What do you want to engage with?” We’re going to have Israeli staff and children and also other staff who want to talk about the Palestinian plight. This is going to impact us for years and years to come: the way we view Israel; the relationship we have with progressive Judaism and progressive, non-Jewish people; with Black Lives Matter. There’s a lot.

AS: As a religious, Zionist camping youth movement, we are figuring out how we can educate American youth. Our B’nei Akiva camps are in a very different place. A lot of key staff live here in Israel, like me. The experience that we’re having is quite different from what is happening in America, there’s no question about it. I have three boys in the armed forces. It puts a different perspective on figuring out educationally how we want to deal with what’s going on in Israel, how we want to deal with antisemitism in North America, and how we want to educate and work with our campers. 

Also, almost all our camps are budgeting significantly more for security.

SW: We continue to be a Zionist youth movement. There continues to be a potential realignment of what it means to be a progressive Jew in North America. We will lose families who think we’re not left enough, and I think we’re going to gain families who realize, yes, here’s a place where you can be a Zionist Jewish American and really question what’s going on in Israel right now. There may be difficulties among our staff this summer around Israel, about what they’re going to teach. Our movement is trying to face that head-on in seminars with our summer leadership.

It’s also going to affect our summer Israel programs as we are finally getting people back to Israel. We are not sure what’s going to happen this summer, and we are concerned that this could become a long-term challenge. And we will be spending more on security. It’s going to be very challenging for our budgets.

JI: Unsurprisingly, I relate to a lot of how Sharon described the Habonim Dror world. We see the growing gaps between generations, between Israelis and Diaspora Jews. In our community in Canada, we have some camper families who maybe have a sixth cousin in Israel, and others who are Israelis who have moved to Canada seasonally, temporarily, or permanently. We are simultaneously perceived as being too Zionist and not Zionist enough. We are facing questions such as: How do we effectively convey who we are and what someone can expect who is sending their child to Hashomer Hatzair Camp Shomria in 2024? How do we navigate fundraising in this climate? If and how do we take a political stance, and what are the implications of doing or not doing so? JM: JCC camps vary greatly. Certainly at JCC Association, we promote and encourage a strong commitment to Israel. We know that our directors and camp leaders are struggling around a number of areas including how to address and respond to the personal social media of staff.

Most importantly, Jewish camps uniquely provide Jewish kids, teens, and staff, with both safe and brave Jewish spaces. They also provide a much needed respite to young Jewish adults regularly facing antisemitism on college. Camps can also provide these college students with tools and resilience to bring that back to their college campuses next fall.
Want to hear more from these movement heads and field leaders? You can find the second article from their conversations here.